Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 035 by Maxwel l Grant

Author:Maxwel,l Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf

CHAPTER XIV. AT HEADQUARTERS

THE next night found Detective Joe Cardona seated at his desk in headquarters. The star sleuth was going over a stack of papers which referred to the interrupted raid on Thaddeus Harmon's apartment.

Cardona looked up from his desk as a man entered. He nodded as he caught sight of Detective Sergeant Markham, the aid who had been working on this case with him. Markham took a chair; Cardona swung to face him.

"Any new clues, Joe?" questioned Markham.

"Not a thing," responded Cardona gruffly. "Nothing but a hunch" - he paused to smile - "and this hunch is based upon what happened up at Harmon's."

"What is it?"

"That the same crooks who did those killings at the Olympia were the ones who raided Harmon's."

"I thought you figured differently, Joe. You said first that it looked like one crowd had picked up the idea

from another."

"That's what I told the reporters," grinned Cardona, "and I gave them the idea I had at the time. Now, I've picked a different slant. I haven't told anyone about it yet."

"I get you." Markham caught on. "Two perfect jobs mean the same method and that connects the first with the second."

"Right." asserted Cardona.

"It sounds reasonable to me, Joe," declared Markham. "But why haven't they gone after Goldy again?

That was their first objective."

"I'll tell you why," said Cardona, wagging his forefinger. "They know that Goldy is smooth. They're afraid he will get wise to them and demand a cut to keep mum. That's Goldy's racket. So they went after him first, but they're afraid to chance it again because he's laying low.

"They figure, too, that Goldy is afraid of them. Maybe he is. So they're going right ahead with a regular schedule of crime. This mess up at Harmon's was just the first job on their list. There's others coming."

"That's bad, Joe."

"Sure it's bad. That's why I'm keeping tabs on Goldy. They may take another shot at him; if they do, we'll find out who they are. At the same time, Markham, I'm letting the newspapers hold the old idea. It may help fool these smart crooks."

"Listen, Joe," said Markham suddenly, "you've given me a thought there. I was over by Goldy's apartment house last night. I saw a reporter coming out of the place. Maybe -"

"Who was he?" questioned Cardona sharply.

"Burke, the fellow on the Classic," returned Markham.

"Clyde Burke, eh?" Cardona's tone was analytical. "Say, Markham, he's been on both of these cases.

Maybe he's been trying to get Goldy Tancred to talk."

"Not much chance," said the detective sergeant. "You quizzed Goldy. He claimed he told you all he knew

- which wasn't much."

"Yeah, but Burke may have something."

With his final statement, Cardona reached for the telephone. He called the Classic office. He was connected with Clyde Burke. The detective requested the reporter to come to headquarters.

CLYDE BURKE arrived in Cardona's office with the air of a man who expected information. He expressed surprise when the detective began to question him.

"Sure, I was up to see Goldy," asserted Clyde.

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